New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh has been in the news for some days due to its financial condition. The salary of the entire cabinet including the Chief Minister and many other top officials has been delayed for two months, while the salary of the employees was delayed for a week and pension for about ten days because there was no fund. It is believed that the state government will save three to four crore rupees a month through this exercise. This is being called financial discipline, whereas it is helplessness and helplessness because tax hikes have started from increasing VAT on diesel to many other services.

Himachal is just one example, there are many states like Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh which are getting so burdened with debt that if there is any delay, the public will have to suffer. At the same time, there are states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand which will have to find immediate ways to increase their revenue. Or they will have to immediately go on the path of expenditure reduction. Himachal has given a warning, the whole country should hear its echo or else everyone may have to pay the price.

In a large democratic country like India, the importance of public welfare schemes cannot be denied, but it is time to be alert and find a way to avoid unbridled freebies and non-productive expenditure. In a country like India, elections for some assembly or the other are being held every third month and due to this, the culture of freebies is increasing among political parties to win elections. Even if the debt on the states is increasing for this.

The result is that every state is spending 80 percent of its revenue on fixed expenses like salaries, pensions. On an average, 20 percent is left for social and development works. An example is of a developed state like Karnataka where fixed expenditure is more than revenue receipt. Hence, there is a situation of almost a ban on development works for a year. To come out of this, state governments increase taxes on different items or the quality of services deteriorates. There is a need to reduce fixed expenditure and increase income.